A symposium on The Application of Computers to Ship Operations was held at the Department of Navigation, Liverpool Polytechnic, on 1, 2 and 3 March 1971.

The symposium was introduced by the Head of the Department, Captain F. L. Main, who briefly reviewed the revolution in world shipping over the past twenty years involving great increases in tonnage, speed of vessels and traffic congestion, accompanied by a progressive reduction in manning scales. This had been made possible by automation and one of its logical consequences was the use of computers both at sea and in port administration. The aim of the symposium was to explore the potential of the digital computer in these fields, to define its possible limitations and to emphasize the need of adequate training for the personnel involved.

Of the nine papers presented, four more directly concerned with the application of computers to navigational systems are printed below. Other papers dealt with the application of computers to cargo handling, ships' accountancy and port administration with particular reference to the recent experience of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. Captain Holder and Captain Jones are both in the Marine Operations Research Unit at the Liverpool Polytechnic.